The Crime Branch has picked up a close friend of Esther Anuhya who she spoke to while leaving Lokmanya Tilak Terminus; cops suspect the friend may have booked a cab for the victim

Crime Branch officials investigating the Esther Anuhya murder case now suspect that the man seen walking in front of her in the CCTV footage, a suspected Cool Cab driver, might have killed her.

CCTV footage has revealed that the man carrying Esther’s luggage was earlier shaking a soft drink bottle around 4.38 am. The police suspect he was trying to mix alcohol inside the bottle. File Pic

The footage recovered from the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) shows the person, with whom Esther left, allegedly drinking liquor in a soft drink bottle at the station. He is also seen lingering around the station an hour prior to Esther’s arrival at the LTT.

Moreover, officials have detained one of Esther’s close friends. They are now trying to find out from him whether she was talking to him while exiting the station, as seen in the CCTV footage. “As Esther’s phone lacked details of booking a Cool Cab or a radio taxi, we suspect her friend must have done it on her behalf.

It is evident in the CCTV footage that she is talking to someone on her mobile phone. But the two mobiles we recovered do not have any details. We suspect she might have a third mobile, which can lead us to the killer. Hence we are interrogating her friend,” said an official.

Last seenIn the earlier footage, Esther is seen entering the old waiting room, leaving it and finally sitting at the platform. Here, a person wearing a white shirt is seen approaching her. Later, she is seen following him around 5.10 am. While that man was carrying her luggage, she was talking on the phone. A detailed scrutiny of the CCTV footage revealed that the same man was seen vigorously shaking a soft drink bottle around 4.38 am.

The police suspect he was trying to mix alcohol inside the bottle with the soft drink. “He is seen hanging around the station for quite a while. He must either be a Cool Cab or a radio taxi driver. Or somebody who must have come to drop his owner and then offered Esther a lift in the private car,” said a Crime Branch officer.

More detentionsCrime Branch officials are detaining Cool Cab and radio taxi drivers and auto drivers operating around LTT for questioning. “Now that we have a picture of the suspect, it makes things a little easier for us to trace him. We also questioned one of Esther’s friends from Hyderabad about how many phones she was using, and whether she had called for a taxi or not,” the officer said.

The caseEsther worked with TCS as a software engineer and lived in Andheri. She had gone home to meet her family for Christmas in Machilipatnam on December 22. She landed in Mumbai on January 5 at LTT, after which she went missing. Esther’s family members found her charred remains on January 16 from the bushes near Tata Nagar Colony in Bhandup (East).

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14 Comments

Rohini05-Feb-2014

In America or some other country they would
Have found the culprit by now
But in India lot of pressures will be there on cops
Heard the main suspect dad is DIG of police and not allowing Mumbai cops to pursue this case

w edward05-Feb-2014

All non-sense things are going on at LTT with the permission of police. Auto drivers carry 5-6 passengers from LTT to Kurla Station and charge heavily per person. There is no control whatsoever on Taxi/Auto drivers at LTT.
The authorities should have strict control to have fearless flow of visitors and travelers to Mumbai.

Dev03-Feb-2014

Police should have done this on very first day when they received complaint so that they would have saver or captured dead body with some clues, body was badly decomposed

John Doe03-Feb-2014

"We suspect she might have a third mobile ": She must be using Payment Mode via NETBANKING or CARD for making payment of bills of this phone. Her family members should check BANK Statements and help the police.

Tintin03-Feb-2014

Why didnt this friend who might have booked the cab told police...something fishy...

Arubindo Ghosh04-Feb-2014

The Mumbai police has once again showed apathy in registering and pursuing the case despite of so many instances of violence against women. They stuck to their usual scriptbthatbthe girl might have eloped, instead of acting on the missing complaint.
Then the entire manner in which the police has handled the case seems like the approach of a novice and not befitting a professional force.

Sujit Uchil03-Feb-2014

Should the police not have verified the credentials of the Taxi drivers instead of wasting time on doing a background check on the 500 auto drivers of the city. From day one it was told that she had hired a taxi from LTT. Then why this natak ?

shruthi04-Feb-2014

They find the cctv footage almost a month after she goes missing? They've got to be kidding us. Had the police done their job of taking the given complaint at the right time and moved their butts to work, she would have still been alive today. I bet the goons who did this all are laughing at the police and whoever is investigating right now and the girl crying from her grave. Kudos Mumbai police

Communal04-Feb-2014

"Never let your inferiors do you a favor. It'll be extremely costly." --Mencken

Sujit Uchil03-Feb-2014

Is the Mumbai police insane or something ? They had checked the background of 500

Shridhar Prabhakar04-Feb-2014

Where does the Indian police have time, energy or the inclination to protect ordinary cirizens even in serious matters of rape and murder, forget thefts or assaults.
They are either busy dusting off Mayawati's shoes or tracing and retrieving Azam Khans buffaloes in less than 24 hours - they love serving such corrupt politicians as they can give them postings that mint money whereas their salary, which comes from comman mans' taxes, is not even their pocket money.

Jayaraj06-Feb-2014

Mumbai police should take the main suspect into custody. Grill/interrogate him intensively so that at least some facts emerge. Looks like someone known to esther might have done this. Investigate the case from all angles.

praveen07-Feb-2014

Now police can know the exact time of phone call and check with the cell tower / operator. There is chance of extracting some more clues. This is totally failure of Mumbai police and their negligence. Majority of the Taxi drivers who are working during night time are frauds. Please be care full in Mumbai stations.

Am07-Feb-2014

"...somebody who must have come to drop his owner and..." - I would have expected a leading English language paper to distinguish between employer and owner. Owner implies that man was a slave. Employer is a more appropriate term.

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